In terms of sales volume in the Russian smartphone market during the first half of the year, Chinese smartphone companies Realme, Vivo, Xiaomi, Tecno, Infinix, iTel, and Nokia (HMD Global) rose to the top. Tecno, Infinix, Realme, and Xiaomi all exhibited growth of more than 100% year over year.
If 498 thousand Realme smartphones were sold in the first half of 2021, then around 1.1 million units were sold during the same time period in 2022. Poco’s unit sales increased by 16% year over year, whereas Nokia’s increased by more than 40%. While Samsung’s share plummeted by 15%, Apple’s share fell by 14% year over year. A little over 10 million smartphones were in sale in Russia overall during the specified time period; which is 23% less than during the same time frame in 2016.
The unit sales of Tecno smartphones climbed by more than 20 times in May and June, those of Doogee by five times, and those of Digma electronics by over eight times.
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In Russia, smartphone Chinese brands will account for up to 90% of all sales
According to Citilink, the network is growing its selection of Chinese goods. Equipment from Schaub Lorenz and Korting is now available in the stores; and in the near future, brands like Kimtigo, Akimojeba, Domfy, and Chuwi will also be available. Consumers are more inclined to pay attention to lesser-known or new brands; and typically they are Chinese, Turkish or Russian companies.
Alexander Surkov, the head of the GS Group analytical center, thinks that popular Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Honor, and Realme will soon overtake the market’s current leaders, Apple and Samsung, and fresh new brands will follow them.
According to the analyst, up to 90% of the Russian smartphone market will really be Chinese technology businesses; and as a result, their positions will get even stronger as they start to build their own ecosystems; and compete with Apple and Samsung.
